


I Don't Mind

by Bremmatron33



Series: Hopeless wanderer [2]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Character Death, Transformers Plug and Play Sexual Interfacing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-20 09:07:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11332683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bremmatron33/pseuds/Bremmatron33
Summary: Life's hard. It just is but it always helps when someone else is there to live it with you and Wheeljack aims to be there for Knock Out.





	I Don't Mind

Wheeljack knew better than to get too involved. Sure he didn’t mind taking care of Breach or enjoying a few nights together but that should have been it. Knock Out wasn’t the most…..stable mech or the most open despite his appealing mask of sociability. He was a lying, cruel, selfish mech but it was easy to see he hadn’t always been and that’s what Wheeljack fell for, what drew him in despite knowing.

He should have known that tearing the medic from his drunken fight with Ratchet, bearing the scraped paint and new scars like they were nothing to get him alone, to calm him down, to fluff his ego, was not going to end with just Knock Out recharging while he slept on the couch. It was looking good at first, Knock Out had taken his time to calm down, venting and swearing as Wheeljack ignored him. When that got the medic nowhere he’d gone over to the nests and plucked out Breach. The little bitlet more than happy to have his sire’s attention, sleepily grabbing at Knock Out’s talons as they tickled their middle.

Breach was one of the only things that calmed Knock Out down, pulled him from one of his moods. Wheeljack didn’t want to think about what would happen when the little mech finally grew up enough to start going through the phases. That was still a long ways away but….it may have been why Wheeljack bothered. Carefully slipping Breach away back to the others to sleep he grabbed Knock Out’s servo and pulled him along back to the berth.

“It’s gettn’ late hi-shine kid needs to sleep, you need to sleep. You still gotta go in tomorrow morning and pretend you didn’t just try to tear old Ratch’s intake out.”

Knock Out just barely followed him, only moving when the other mech would tug hard enough. It’d been a few years since this had all started and Wheeljack was just starting to see the signs when they came. “I don’t want to go in.” Knock Out always got antsy with things started to get the same. He didn’t like boring, didn’t like routine. Wheeljack understood the feeling but despite all their gripes Knock Out had shaped up to be a pretty good medic now that he knew better and one Ratchet and the others at the hospital relied on. He was fast and efficient and good at dealing with certain patients that they just couldn’t deal with. So his on and off disassociation and need to run off wasn’t doing him or anybody else any favors anymore. Wheeljack did his best to at least keep the mech in the city or close enough instead of running off to some abandoned part of the world to scavenge.

“Well...what do you want to do? You could go with Magnus to Talse, you could go into the lab with Perceptor and Brainstorm and work on your project, you could go with Arcee to the school and teach a lecture, or-”

“I want to go back to Earth.”

The mech had been getting worse, his processor taking him further and further from Cybertron and his responsibilities.“Knock Out you know-”

“I want to call Swindle.” Knock Out hugged at Wheeljack’s waist to keep him from leaving even if the mech wasn’t even going much of anywhere. “Do you want to come with us? Do you want leave? Just Breach and us.”

Wheeljack had to vent deeply as he grit his denta. “Primus you know I do. You know but-”

“Let’s go someplace. Just leave for a bit. Just let things go. Don’t you just want let things go sometimes?”

“We can’t-”

“Yes we can, we can do whatever we want-”

Knock Out really was the worst. The perfect enabler, the perfect vice. But he’d promised and Knock Out had promised that they would help though the worst and things weren’t even stable yet. “Let’s just stay here okay? Stay in my room.” It honestly surprised Wheeljack that he’d lasted this long without fragging Knock Out. How little Knock Out actually wanted that sort of attention. But it gave him the thrills he needed, calmed his restless spark but it was only a patch for the craving. “I’ll take care of ya’ okay? Take you sky high and we don’t even have to use our wheels.”

“Wheeljack-”

“You can stay with me tomorrow too, we can work on the new council building alright? We can plan or just draw it out or just who cares just stay with me tonight alright? Just stay with me?” The mech knew better, Knock Out was easier to convince when he was drunk but sometimes he could be twice as stubborn. Pulling the mech up and taking him over to the couch Knock Out pushed at him, continued going on about all the places they were missing out on just stuck on Cybertron. Just trying to get Wheeljack to listen. To get the other mech to do what he knew what he really wanted. But Wheeljack managed to stay firm, just trailing kisses up Knock Out’s neck till he had the other mech kissing him back. “Just stay with me hi-shine I’ll make it fun. We can have fun here.”

Drunk Knock Out wasn’t much of anything, just a near limp beggar who trailed his claws wherever he liked and was more interested in the shiniest spot on your metal than the whole experience. It had made Wheeljack nervous the first time he’d remembered asking the mech again and again if he was okay if he wanted to stay if he wanted what he could give him. Knock Out just smiled and ran his talons along his wide audial fins, engine purring. Whispering teasing dirty suggestions as he laughed. It was such a strange turn for a sober K.O., who was often mean and controlling. Wheeljack liked both honestly. Loved the taste of Knock Out’s sweet port if it was being shoved against his face or he was going after it himself.

Their first time took some work. Wheeljack had been expecting Knock Out to be an easy mech, used to the ride and the servos since he was sure as hell used to the optics being all over him but he was a twitching mess. Wasn’t used to the taste of his own medicine or maybe he just always needed a firmer touch. Wheeljack had tried not to think about it. Tried not to think about what a straight up dorky idiot like Breakdown had to do to keep a bot like Knock Out happy.

With Knock Out’s legs thrown over his shoulders Wheeljack gripped the smaller mech tight by his aft till there were dents from his digits. Nuzzling and mouthing at Knock Out’s cord housing as he ran his thumbs lower along warm pulsing valve plates till hot lubricant dripped onto his lap and he was sucking on Knock Out’s sparking plug. Wheeljack loved the feeling of sparks on his glossia, the hum of arousal, the feeling of Knock Out’s claws digging and dragging along the back of his neck. It wasn’t just about making sure Knock Out was happy it was making sure he was content.

It never seemed to last long though. He’d get the mech to lay there for hours if he’d done a good job, really blew Knock Out’ circuits but a few hours was it till he was back on whatever he wanted. A trip to the wastes, a scavenge in ghost town, pit even a drive to the abandoned underground just to spend a few hours in cities and metal that hadn’t seen mechs since long before the war. Sometimes Wheeljack would just have to take him. He’d give him the inches so he he wouldn’t go miles.

“Please- ha- Wheeljack please~” Knock Out strained against the hard light rope that had him tethered to the headboard. His back arching higher as Wheeljack ignored him and continued frag his port. Wheeljack had tried to keep things fun, tried to make sure his little medic never got bored but still all Knock Out wanted was freedom. The road, the space, the change. “We could just go for a few days Wheeljack! We’d be back before they even noticed we were gone! Why are you so intent on keeping me here doing the same slag till I fucking gutter out and die!”

That night was the first taste of what Knock Out was really like. It wasn’t just boredom or a restless spark. Not even just dissatisfaction or purpose,it was fear. There’d be nights after that where he’d wake up to Knock Out screaming. Cowering wherever he could hide complaining about the sounds of sirens or artillery fire when the rains came though or clawing at the locked doors because the ceilings were caving in when winds would blow too hard and make the base creak. He could hear it he swore, so loudly it may have as been. Mechs like Knock Out who had so long ago trained themselves to be prepared for the worst, to not react, to not be affected couldn’t handle peace. In war tragedy and chaos was bound to happen but now they were just waiting for it. Waiting for the bubble to pop, the mirror to break, the world to split open. Their processors and memories reminding them they couldn’t relax, couldn’t settle. Wheeljack had watched Bulkhead deal with it, Arcee too, either through training or work. Knock Out just wanted to run, even it didn’t do anything at least it was something. Kept him unattached, kept him free.

So Wheeljack got smart. It took forever to convince the medic the first time to get dusted with him, As a medic Knock Out had long since had an addiction to green light and Speed but solar was nothing like that. He'd spend a good few cycles alone and high on the job just so he could sync up with Knock Out later, give the medic a taste. It had been a terrible night when Knock Out had finally caved, they’d been fighting ever since he’d got out of the hospital, he’d gone out on drive and hadn’t come back till dawn but when he finally did he came back begging and kissing. Forgetting about their responsibilities he dragged Knock Out to a closet just outside the lab lit up and hotboxed Knock Out till they were making out. The smell and the warm hazy feeling made Wheeljack think of his days back at school, reminded him of how much older he was than Knock Out. How old he felt sometimes. As he chewed on Knock Out’s seatbelts while long talons fingered him though he didn’t feel old.

It was Bumblebee of all mechs who had found them. Either Ultra Magnus or Ratchet had sent him it didn’t matter. Wheeljack at least tried to not look blasted even as Knock Out continued to suck on his spike, too out of it to even realize that someone had found them. Luckily Bee had only opened the door enough to see the Wrecker.

That….that kept things good for a while. A good long while. Wheeljack lost count of the times he’d find Arcee and Knock Out or pit even him and Bulkhead closed off in a smoked out room or curled up in common rooms asleep or just coherent enough after a good dusting to have a few dozen sparklings all lingering around happily playing with them or each other while the older mechs kept watch or napped. They kept their slag in control, they had to with Ultra Magnus but even the boss could tell and while it was likely he didn’t approve there was no way he was going to tell war vets how to deal with their issues especially when they still did their share of work just fine.

It was good to see Knock Out sharing drinks with Arcee, watching movies with Bumblebee and Bulkhead, pecking kisses and humming happy words into Breach’s tummy as he washed his bitlet and shined him clean instead of screaming and crying about how he had made the biggest mistake of his life. It was good to see him actually happy for once instead of faking for the sake of acting normal even if the real Knock Out wasn’t all smiles and quips. Even if he was just sitting in silence together in Wheeljack’s room, or  just drawing for hours with only Breach in his lap, or laughing at jokes that only he found funny. It mattered because it was real, it was normal and quiet and he was happy.

Years went like that. Just living the best they could. TIll things got better. Knock Out never really stopped being distant but he got better when he realized that certain mechs were never going away no matter who came back to planet. Arcee never really branched off, even back at the school or the elite guard academy she still stayed close once they all stopped just living at the base. Once they all slowly started getting real lives. Bulkhead never left either and though it took a lot more than some shared solar and Wheeljack never expected to really get them friendly they made it work. They never spoke about Breakdown. Ever. Unless Knock Out brought it up, until at some point Bulkhead apologized for everything with him. Knock Out admitted he had never really considered it a point of contention between them even though it didn’t help. Breakdown had been his own bot and Knock Out had always told him the he honestly didn’t think Bulkhead was even worth fighting. The most their fights had ever cost Knock Out was a few hours extra work and a long frag to fluff the other bruisers ego if he lost. It just seemed in poor taste to him to suddenly chum around with the bot who got joy out of going after his conjunx just so he could beat him to death one more time.

Eventually Knock Out started bringing around his own friends. Swindle was often over at the small apartment him and Wheeljack shared before he struck out again. Flatline and another mech named Conduit also made appearances, often dragging Knock Out off back to Kaon to help out or go to sermons. There was Glitz another back alley augmenter Knock Out had been friends with before he joined the Cons. She often came around whenever Knock Out needed something new. When he eventually switched jobs to be the Iconian medical examiner he gained a few more, Trepan, Stint, and Pharma who all worked part time at the morgue when the bodies piled up. They all had an air of mechs who had done and seen too much to be normal anymore but Wheeljack liked Stint enough to enjoy a few drinks when he showed up early.

Things stayed fine for so long. They stayed happy and Primus even got better with each other. Knock Out never wanted anything official after Breakdown, some part of him just seeing the title as a curse but Wheeljack never minded. Something as some dumb words never seemed nearly as important as just being able to have the mech’s spark all to himself on his own bad days.

Then one day it just fell apart.

It didn’t seem like it would, it was just a job. Knock Out had even spent days making sure it was alright to go. They discussed for weeks whether he would take Breach or not. Wheeljack told him it didn’t matter he was more than willing to take care of the kid as long as he needed to. Being as old as he was now, being halfway to full grown and going to school most days, Wheeljack saw no reason to uproot the kids life even if it meant taking on a little more time. So Knock Out left for Velocitron. A well needed delegate along with Blurr and a few other speedsters. For once in what felt like a lifetime of keeping to himself….Wheeljack actually felt alone.

Bulkhead ended up moving in to help take care of him, Between his construction jobs and Wheeljack working in the underground on Metroplex the days seemed to get longer and longer. They’d do straight hits of solar for the pain, the cold hollowness they were still feeling after all these years. Peace was supposed to make them feel safe, sane, but it only made Wheeljack feel like just a machine again. The only thing keeping him going besides Bulk and Arcee were a few well timed postcards and racy photos. So far away their comms didn’t work and with Velocitron’s shit set up they had to do things old school. Wheeljack saved them all. Took them out on a rainy day. They slowly stopped coming.

Wheeljack had worried, had tried to have faith that it was just Knock Out cheating on him, plenty of hot, rich racing frames and all the time in the world but after almost a year of nothing he took a week off and went on a quick trip. He found Blurr and Sunstreaker but they said they hadn’t seen side nor hood of Knock Out in months.

“The last time we saw him we were hanging out and he got a call from Magnus. I guess Bumblebee overstepped his bounds. He was supposed to go to earth to help collect all the Cons so Bee would just give up the ghost and head back. That’s all I got for ya Jackie.”

“Well….at least he’s not cheatin’ on me I guess.” Blurr grabbed the other mech by his shoulders and pulled him close to comfort him.

“He’s supposed to come back Wheeljack. He’ll be back and I’m sure he’ll send you something. Ultra Magnus probably just told him to keep silent while he was on earth in case you were helping out Bee. From how it sounded there’s enough rogue bots there already.”

When Wheeljack got home Breach was waiting for him…...well not Breach anymore. He’d grown up, learned more, had wanted a better name that reminded him of his old mech. “What in the pit are you doing outta school Wildbreak.”

Guilty golden eyes tried stay focused and firm. “I came home t-t-to see you guys and found you both gone! Where the Pit did you go?”

“Went to go check on Knock Out.”

Wildbreak’s optics widened with fear. “Why? What’s wrong with him?”

Wheeljack stayed quiet as he milled around the small apartment. “What’s the last you heard from your dad?”

“J-just that his frequency was working again but not to rely on it since he was being monitored. That an-and he told me to tell you not to worry. H-he didn’t say why but he said you’d understand so it didn’t matter.” Wheeljack nodded slowly.

“When was that?”

“Beginning of the year. He wished me a happy onlining and sent me a gift too.” Wheeljack nodded again. “Are you alright Jackie?” Wheeljack pulled Wildbreak close, a simple hug.

“Yeah kid. Let’s- Let’s just go get a drink alright? I want you back to school by tomorrow.”

He wasn’t though. Alone again he just couldn’t stop thinking about Knock Out. The ex-con would have gotten around orders. Continued to send him letters like they had been. Something. Anything! If he still cared. Then one night he got a ghost through the comms. An old message that was dated for months ago. He looked ragged, sounded even worse.

“Hey Jackie~ I’m sorry for the silence Ultra Magnus was just paranoid, Bumblebee went and lost his damn processor-ah- It’s idiotic. I told Ultra Magnus I’m not sticking around. I can’t deal with the prime delusion aspiration nonsense and as far as I care none of those Cons are even worth my time. They were all dumb enough to get captured and put in prison and stay on earth even though they know cops are down there so they can stay Bee’s problem. Let him play hero again after the monotony he’s lived through. They’re making it a bigger deal than it has to be. Don’t freak out but….before I head back to Velocitron I’m making a detour to help Swindle with something. Just a quick job that he needs a nice pair of legs for. His friend wants to start making more films again and….I need a little boost after Velocitron…. I might come home for a bit after too….I don’t think I really want to go back. I thought it’d be fun but…...it’s kind of just as demeaning as the Cons was. It got old fast. Not to mention…..I miss you.” The message cut out after that. Wheeljack could see red and dark green lights flashing all around Knock Out, warnings for the on the shuttle he was on. His spark grew thorny. He knew something had happened.

It took him another week to get restocked and….everything settled. He didn’t know how long he was going to be gone but…..it didn’t feel like a safe trip. There was a lot of paperwork to fill out and a lot of government schmucks he needed to call before he finally got himself in the jackhammer again. Whatever had happened to Knock Out his signal was still on but even Ultra Magnus admitted that they couldn’t pinpoint him. He was off the grid either away on whatever planet Swindle had called him to or floating dead on a carrier ship out in space. Either way he was going to find out.

He had managed to track down where the carrier came from and where it was supposed to dock. It never got there but being an intergalactic carrier the breech in the hull had been enough to issue a rescue. Four other ships had been sent to pick up and depending on where they were going or what was best for them the passengers got to pick. It took ages but he talked around. Did almost anything to just get a hint. One of the captains of the ships remembered Knock Out boarding. When he had assigned rooms he had been with another injured mech. Didn’t look cybertronian. His tracking got him close enough to call Swindle and finally get a name and a planet. It was far. Real far the ship Knock Out must have taken after transferring over would have either cost out the aft or been so crowded it was no wonder he hadn’t heard anything with all the signals and tech that would be on board it would have been a mess.

For a while he thought about turning back. For Wildbreak, for Bulkhead, for himself…..but Knock Out the damn siren he was…...they had spent so long being good. Staying put. Living the way they thought was normal that…...he’d missed the jackhammer, the open space, the crummy bars, the strangers, the drinks, the sighs. He missed it and more than anything he’d missed Knock Out. Wildbreak was old enough now, Bulkhead and plenty of other friends, construction buddies and surviving wreckers alike and the place sounded real nice. So he went….and he paid the price.

 

It was annoyingly early when the dean sent a few officers to pick Wildbreak up and take him all the way back to Iacon. Luckily Arcee had been with them or he was sure he would have bolted. His dad had always been sure on one thing, unless he knew the cop it was better to just make a break for it. When they finally got to where they needed Arcee lead him to the top to meet Ultra Magnus. Wildbreak had never met the mech at time where he could remember or get a real feel for him,but he’d heard plenty of stories.

“Wildbreak do you know why we called you here?”

“I-i-i don’t know. Some snooty upperclassmen didn’t like being shut down into a mudpit when he got up in my grill? M-m-m-my dad always said never to let bigger bots push me around and that if they ever tried to talk down to me I should stab where the medical bots don’t check first so they leak out in their recharge. I only just dismantled his axles and knees so he’d trip. He was asking for it. I wanted to meet mechs to make some friends not get hazed. I never went back honest.”

“Son-” Arcee quickly gave the leader a look. Now was not the time for petty grievances. “No you know it doesn’t matter. I have some bad news for you.”

“W-what is it?” Wildbreak felt sick all of a sudden. Things had already been rocky and now the state was getting in on it!

“Y-you..r sire is still missing. He left his last mission on earth and the last that was heard from him was he was on a shuttle to a private destination that suffered a breach. Being a private company I know nothing more. Wheeljack….your other guardian went to go and find him for us. He-” Magnus sighed now uncomfortable enough that moving on was giving him trouble. “I regret to inform you he didn’t not make the trip home no matter what he found. He was….ambushed by rogue Decepticons and…...would have been murdered if not for being who he was. The only condolences I have for you are the keys and his ship and a video saying goodbye.”

Wildbreak really felt sick now, Wheeljack may not have been his other sire and he maybe even held a bit of a grudge after learning about Breakdown but-but he was still part of his life! He raised him! Helped him grow! “Y-y-you don’t even got a body? What am I gonna tell my dad when he does get home! What-” Arcee’s servos were on his wheels before full panic could set in.

“Wildbreak he’s down at the morgue. They’re fixing him up and picking the Jackhammer clean of evidence before they clean it up and give it to you….Ultra Magnus just wants to know if you know anything. Do you know where Knock Out is?”

“NO! NO I don’t I don’t know anythin’! Where’s this video maybe he said something in that that’ll give me some clue?!”

“WIldbreak there are no-”

“SHOW IT’TA ME’!”

“Son we will-”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT! YOU NEVER EVEN LIKED EITHER OF MY FOLKS JUST WHAT THEY COULD DO FOR YA YOU SLAGGER! THAT’S WHY THEY’RE GONE!”

“Wildbreak don’t. We’re doing our best to find Knock Out-” The rest turned into a blur as Arcee tried to calm him down but Wildbreak’s panic won over. He had been so alone at school, just trying to make his folks proud...and now he was alone forever.

Somehow they hustled him off to the morgue to see what was left. Wildbreak didn’t need to see the body to know how the mech had gone out but the charred metal and missing limbs said it anyway. At least the slaggers he blew up couldn’t even be identified.

They promised he’d have the Jackhammer by the end of the week if he wanted to start off where Wheeljack had left but all Wildbreak wanted to do was sit at home on their crappy couch and watch the video Wheeljack had left him over and over and over again.

It didn’t give him any clues to where to start….but it was everything Wildbreak needed to hear.

“Hey kid….this is probably the last thing you’re gonna hear from me unless some miracle happens. I want you to know….you’re dad’s fine. Don’t go looking for him like I did. Don’t be stupid and pitiful like me okay? Just wait. He’ll come home. Just stay in school okay...just stay? Your dad and I we- we were always runners in some way. Couldn’t stay still and it got us and the mechs we loved in trouble. And….I just want you to know that...I’m sorry we probably weren’t the best...we were both fragging selfish idiot geniuses who just- we thought we could do whatever we wanted, thought we were doing the right thing. Just trying to survive and make you happy. I was just trying to live up to Breakdown’s memories and keep us together…...it didn’t seem hard if you knew him like I did but primus did they weigh on me. He would a’ probably been able to love you ten thousand times better than I did but that’s a problem when your exploitable like me and your father. I just want you to know- I don’t know what I would be doing right now if it weren’t for you so I don’t care what you do, what you need to do- I love you, I’m proud of you, and you made all the pain worth it. Made my life feel worth it. Tell your dad I love him for me when you see him. Tell him…...no one was there to get me to stay so...I finally followed him. Finally chose to go. Don’t be stupid. Don’t be like me and your father. Enjoy the slag outta every moment but Primus…..” There were noises in the back. Mechs boarding the ship. Wheeljack turned back from the noise and smiled. “Well…..do you hear these ingrates. Boy I must have pissed them off for them to chase me this long…...goodbye kid and remember…..it’s harder to piece things together-to build them….than to let them fall apart….but it’s always worth it.”

**Author's Note:**

> ey hope you liked it. Kudos, comments, and requests are all appreciated.


End file.
